Phoenix (phoenix@dvxs.nl)
Wed, 03 Nov 1999 20:14:32 +0100
>de anti-echelon-dag Hier volgt laatste nieuws van wired over dat de BBC gisteren mededeelde nu echt het bestaan van echolon te kunnen bevestigen. The network, which is believed to have close ties to the US National Security Agency, can reputedly eavesdrop on any phone call, fax, or email, anywhere on earth. BBC: Echelon Exists Wired News Report 9:00 a.m. 3.Nov.1999 PST Echelon, the global spying network whose existence has been both vigorously claimed and airily denied, actually exists, according to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC reported Tuesday that an Australian government official has confirmed what both the Americans and British have consistently denied -- that the super-secret spy network exists. According to the BBC, Australia's inspector general of intelligence, Bill Blick, confirmed that his country's Defense Signals Directorate forms part of the Echelon network. "As you would expect there are a large amount of radio communications floating around in the atmosphere, and agencies such as the DSD collect those communications in the interests of their national security," Blick told the BBC. Asked if information is then passed on to the United States or Britain, Blick said that "in certain circumstances" it was. Those who have maintained the existence of Echelon say that its reach into the lives of private citizens is especially sinister. The network, which is believed to have close ties to the US National Security Agency, can reputedly eavesdrop on any phone call, fax, or email, anywhere on earth. Proving Echelon's existence has become something of a Holy Grail for an assortment of privacy advocates, hackers, and journalists. The online campaign to unmask Echelon has been especially fierce, as a recent hackers' attempt at jamming the network illustrated. An earlier report by journalist Duncan Campbell, commissioned by the European Parliament, provided additional evidence that Echelon, in fact, exists. Campbell's report cited the example of the NSA intercepting a phone call from a French firm bidding on a Brazilian contract. The information was allegedly passed along to an American competitor, which wound up winning the contract. "There is nowhere you can go to say that they've been snooping on your international communications," Campbell told the BBC. While no one in an official capacity in either the United States or Britain has broken silence, one US military officer did admit that in theory, at least, a network like Echelon could exist. "Technically, they can scoop all this information up, sort through it, and find what it is that might be asked for," Colonel Dan Smith told the BBC. "But there is no policy to do this specifically in response to a particular company's interests." In the United States, Representative Bob Barr (R-Georgia) has persuaded Congress to open hearings on the question of Echelon's existence and reach. Barr, who will be in England next month, accused the NSA of conducting a "dragnet" of communication and "invading the privacy of American citizens." http://www.wired.com/news/ ---------------------------kraken-------------------------------- Adminstrator: kraken-post-admin@dvxs.nl Over kraken zie: http://squat.net/ Krakenmail op www: http://www.dvxs.nl/~skwot 'How-To' Kraken-post: http://www.dvxs.nl/~kraken *** to get english help: mailto:posthelp@dvxs.nl
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